A Look into the Gun Laws at Ohio State

After Monday’s violent events at OSU — many are wondering what exactly happened and why — while speculation on motives begin to take hold of the conversation.

One question we’ve seen several times over the course of the last two hours concerns what exactly Ohio State’s gun laws are and how they played or didn’t play into this situation.

As it stands — Ohio State is a gun-free zone and we would like to reiterate that it is confirmed that no guns were used against innocents at Ohio State University and all information points to a knife attack by a single suspect who was shot minutes after initiating his attack by Police. The situation has few confirmed gunshots and none of those are confirmed to have come from any of the apprehended suspects or the one dead assailant.

Under division (B) of section 2923.12 of the Revised Code, it prohibits citizens from carrying a concealed firearm on the various premises which include — any premise controlled by the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, jail, detention facility, airport terminal, a school safety zone, a courthouse, any open air arena, church, mosque, synagogue, child day-care center, aircraft.

Under section 5, it details college campus’ and the laws pertaining to them:

“[a]ny premises owned or leased by any public or private college, university, or other institution of higher education, unless the handgun is in a locked motor vehicle or the licensee is in the immediate process of placing the handgun in a locked motor vehicle.”

There are currently no Ohio laws against open carrying but various Universities have their own Code of Student Conduct. Ohio State’s Code of Student Conduct includes a provision that prohibits any possession or storage of firearms, even when permitted by law.

There is a huge amount of incorrect or conflicting data in regards to the link between gun-free zones and the likelihood of violent incidents occurring and without proper research we can not accurately say whether or not there is a link.

We spoke with Mike Newbern, the director and founder of Buckeyes for Concealed Carry on Campus, an undergraduate student organization at Ohio State University fighting to restore the right of law-abiding citizens to carry concealed firearms on all public university campuses in Ohio. Newbern is a graduate from OSU main campus, a former instructor at OSU Marion and a current student at OSU Marion.

“We do not have any evidence that concealed carry would lessen the likelihood of the events like we saw today,” said Newbern. “However, concealed carry has not been shown to increase crime on campus.” He then cited colleges in Houston Texas who allow concealed firearms. He said these colleges have not seen an increase in crime.

When asked if the incident at OSU today would’ve been different if concealed firearms were permitted, Newbern said that it’s impossible to tell because it would only be hypothetical.

“What I do know is that there are lots of incidents where a mass shooting doesn’t become a mass shooting because people can fight back,” said Newbern. “The fact that it may or may not have changed the outcome of the incidents today is no justification to limit someone’s choice to have a concealed carry.

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